This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
Welcome to the first Saturday of Premier League coverage curtailed towards the 10am DraftKings contests. Your total available salary is $50,000 to build your best squad of eight players, which includes one goalkeeper, two defenders, two midfielders, two forwards and one FLEX. Points are awarded on DraftKings as follows:
Goal = +10 PTs
Assist = +6 PTs
Shot = +1 PTs
Shot on Goal = +1 PTs
Crosses = +1 PTs (Ball sent in from the wing, into the box for offensive purposes. Corner kicks do not count.)
Fouls Drawn = +0.75 PTs
Red Card = -1 PTs
Saves (GK) = +2 PTs
Goal Allowed (GK) = -2 PTs
Clean Sheet (GK, D) = +5 PTs
One Goal Allowed (GK, D) = +2 PTs
Win (GK) = +5 PTs
Penalty Kick Save (GK) = +3 PTs
With that out of the way, here are the available GPP contests for Fantasy Premier League this Saturday morning:
$8K Equalizer ($1,250 first prize), Entry Fee: $27
$6K Golden Boot ($2,000 first prize), Entry Fee: $200
$4.5K Nutmeg ($500 first prize), Entry Fee: $2
$3K Upper 90 ($1,00 first prize), Entry Fee: $100
$1.5K Corner Kick ($175 first prize), Entry Fee: $5
$1.5K Stoppage Time ($200 first prize), Entry Fee: $12
$1K Slide Tackle ($500 first prize), Entry Fee: $50
$250 Daily Dollar ($50 first prize), Entry Fee: $1
$300 Quarter Arcade ($43.50 first prize), Entry Fee: $0.25
and many more…
The following games are included:
Chelsea at Aston Villa
Crystal Palace at Leicester City
Hull City at Manchester City
Southampton at Queen's Park Rangers
Sunderland at Swansea City
Liverpool at Everton
Soccer is unlike other fantasy sports. Your player can start, play the entire game, play well, and not score many (if any) fantasy points under the DraftKings scoring model. Centerbacks and defensive midfielders have the jobs of tackling and preventing their opposition from scoring, and while their contributions are very important to the end result, their individual stats are simply not conducive to scoring many fantasy points. With that in mind, some positions are extremely conducive to scoring fantasy points, at times even beyond the true value they contribute to their team in any given match, and this comes from one scoring criteria: crosses. This makes fullbacks and wingers valuable, and good targets on any certain matchday.
The goal is to rack up as many points as you can and the following position recommendations and advice are a good start to your DraftKings supremacy.
*Make sure to check our EPL lineups page about an hour before the games start to get the official starting lineups and benches*
Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart - $5,600 
v. 
Goalkeepers get +5 PT bonus for simply being in goal during a win. With Man City being the heaviest favorites of the six contest matches hosting the impotent Hull City, Hart stands in a very good place to collect said bonus, along with fairly good chances to collect the additional +5 PT bonus for a clean sheet too.
Costel Pantilimon - $4,400 
at 
If you are looking to save some funds on your goalkeeper and deviate from the more popular picks, Pantilimon may fit the bill. Sunderland are underdogs in the books traveling to Swansea, who just took a massive three points at Southampton this past Sunday, but Pantilimon is coming off a huge 20 FPT performance holding Hull City to a clean sheet while making four saves. Pantilimon can take some heat, making nine saves versus Manchester City and seven versus Newcastle and West Ham, respectively. Swansea transferred away their most potent offensive threat, Wilfried Bony, and though they beat Southampton, they did so by converting their only shot on goal. In my view, not only is Pantilimon a good value play, but also a re-juvinated Sunderland with Jermain Defoe may be a decent play with the bookies being quoted around +350.
I wouldn't talk you off Thibaut Courtois of Chelsea, who costs $5,700 and is up against an Aston Villa side that's only been able to score seven home goals all season long. Chelsea have given up a total of sixteen away goals throughout the Premier League season though, and I really can't believe Christian Benteke can be held scoreless too much longer.
Also, Pantilimon's opposite Lukasz Fabianski of Swansea, is priced at $5,000, a favorable choice for all the reasons Pantilimon is unattractive.
Last of all, Fraser Forster of Southampton ($4,900) has allowed more than one goal only once in his past ten games. QPR is oddly good at scoring at home despite their poor overall record though.
Defenders:
Gael Clichy - $4,300 v.
First of all, let me be clear that Clichy is not a guaranteed start as Aleksander Kolarov, Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna have all been splitting time at fullback for Manchester City. The strategy of coupling your defense with your goalkeeper is a good one, as they can all potentially share in the +5 PT clean-sheet bonus. With that in mind, Clichy has been the most active offensive threat, bringing in seventeen crosses and two assists over his past five starts. Couple that with a potential clean sheet and he's a very viable play. In the event Clichy doesn't get the start, both Koralov ($4,700) and Zabaleta ($4,600) are suitable, though more expensive, replacements.
Patrick Van Aanholt - $3,400 at
As Clichy is to Hart, Van Aanholt is to Pantilimon. Since Van Anholt secured the left back job, he's been extremely productive and last out he had five crosses on top of an assist.
Alan Hutton - $3,500 
v. 
Yes, Villa are certainly up against it versus Chelsea, so the +5 bonus for a clean sheet appears unlikely. However, Hutton is the most active crosser of the ball among all defenders available and in the seeming likelihood that Chelsea takes an early lead, Hutton could very well be extremely active in trying to spark some kind of offense for the struggling Villa.
Whatever Chelsea fullbacks find themselves in the starting lineup are viable, but Branislav Ivanovic ($5,100) and Filipe Luis ($3,900) are especially useful, though the latter is still fighting through a calf injury. Just hope they don't find themselves leading by too wide of a margin and the fullbacks find themselves no longer attacking.
Nathaniel Clyne ($4,100) of Southampton is active on the offensive end and with Ryan Bertrand serving a suspension, his importance in jump-starting the offense from the backline is even more crucial.
Everton's Leighton Baines ($5,600) is basically a midfielder, so much so that he is the penalty-taker for Everton, which is reason enough to make him a viable fantasy threat.
Midfielders:
Jesus Navas - $6,600 v.
With an impressive thirty-six crosses over his last five outings, Navas is a consistent source of points, failing to reach 10 FPTs just once in his last six outings. Not being a particularly prolific goal scorer means his ceiling isn't superbly high, but his crossing and creative abilities do have a way of turning into assists.
Jefferson Montero - $4,200 v.
Montero left with injury just before the New Year, and was priced about $5,100 at that time. He hasn't played a BPL game since December, but he is most certainly healthy now (as shown by his appearance in the FA Cup last week) and serves a potentially very important role on a team without two of its best midfielders in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Routledge due to suspension and injury, respectively.
The Crystal Palace midfield is productive but crowded, and the starting lineup as of now is up in the air. Yannick Bolasie ($5,700) and Mile Jedinak ($5,600) have been away on international duty for their respective countries. Jason Puncheon ($5,500) has capitalized on their absence, carrying Palace to a winning record in January. All three have talent, all three are affordable, and against a less-than-stellar Leicester side, whoever starts stands a chance to capitalize.
Juan Cuadrado ($6,000) is facing his first match for the Blues. Waiting and seeing how he figures into the Chelsea lineup would likely be wise, but it's at least worth mentioning the biggest transfer of the winter transfer market.
I wouldn't talk you off any of the top-six priced midfielders (excluding Yaya Toure who's still participating in the Africa Cup of Nations): Eden Hazard, David Silva, Dusan Tadic, Raheem Sterling, Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Oscar.
Forwards:
Sadio Mane - $6,000 
at 
Freshly returned from international duty/injury, Mane is a potent winger. He gets shots, serves crosses and flat out produces. Against a weak QPR defense that is now without a manager, at the bargain price of $6,000, as long as he starts, he's very hard to look past.
Sergio Aguero - $10,300 v.
The BPL's most-potent striker looks to regain his form against a weak Hull City side. On his day, multiple goals are within his sights, and honestly $10,300 is a bargain compared to the $13000+ he was once priced.
Jermain Defoe ($5,900) capitalized on his Black Cats starting debut with a goal. He's a prolific striker and seems unlikely to stay at the price of $5,900 for long.
Chelsea will go forward with Loic Remy ($7,400) and/or Didier Drogba ($6,500) with Costa still serving suspension. Either, depending on the lineup, serve as suitable plays in a game that seems destined to host a number of Chelsea goals.
For a striker as talented as Daniel Sturridge at the price of $8,100, coming into what could be his first Premier League start since August, is a fair play. He scored off the bench in just 22 minutes of action last time out, and he will look to move Liverpool back to the form that saw them as Premier League runners-up last season.
